American assets carried out a lethal strike on a vessel in international waters on 4 December under orders from U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
Centcom said intelligence had confirmed the boat was carrying illicit narcotics along a recognised trafficking route in the Eastern Pacific. The strike destroyed the vessel and killed four men described as narco-terrorists. The Pentagon offered no additional evidence to corroborate the designation.
The action fits into a broader pattern that began in September 2025, when the United States started conducting airstrikes on small boats in the Caribbean as part of what the Trump administration called a maritime counter-narcotics mission. The following month, the strikes expanded into the Eastern Pacific. Washington has asserted that the targeted vessels were operated by groups it labels as terrorist organisations, including Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua and Colombia’s National Liberation Army, but it has not publicly substantiated those claims.
By 4 December at least eighty seven people had been killed across at least twenty two strikes on twenty three vessels. Critics argue that the pattern suggests something closer to a political coercion campaign than a counter-narcotics effort. Both the Colombian and Venezuelan governments accuse the United States of extrajudicial killings and violating international law. Human rights groups have raised similar concerns, and legal scholars point out that the administration has not demonstrated an armed conflict framework that would justify lethal force on the scale being used.
The programme is unfolding against a backdrop of deteriorating relations with Venezuela. Opposition figures, independent analysts and some administration sources have all suggested that the White House is pursuing regime change through pressure and attrition. Congress has twice attempted to rein in the president’s authority to continue the strikes but both resolutions were defeated in the Senate.
Despite the controversy, the Pentagon continues to frame the campaign in narrow terms. In its statement on the 4 December incident, the department said only that “the vessel was carrying illicit narcotics” and that four “narco-terrorists” were killed, offering no further justification for the use of force in international waters.
Like a frickin turkey shoot man!
Crazy that he’s bombing fishermen to distract from his fling with Bill.
Hardly fisherman…. Drug runners more like…
I doubt that very much.
‘The Pentagon offered no additional evidence to corroborate the designation.’
It’s just their word, and that’s meaningless these days.
we don’t know even, if it may be. but we also have reports of 4 fishermen from Trinidad being killed
in reality it is impossible to verify by aerial cam because we cannot ID these individuals nor prove if there are drugs onboard
this is nuts because being a drug a mule is not a capital offence in US,, they are entitled to due legal process as per US Constitution
killing civilians in international waters by military is a war crime regardless of how DC lawyers spin it – in fact a US Navy Admiral resigned in sept because he would not carry out these illegal orders
sorry but I wont take the word of US administration when we have had plenty of bold face lies in the past like WMD, the killing of italian journalist/hostage Giuliana Sgrena and italian operatives who had just rescued her, etc, etc…
all this could easily be avoided by US Coast Guard doing their regular patrols in US waters by boarding vessels, checking ID and cargo, and then make arrests when appropriate
this narco-terrorist campaign is another Trump sham
Agreed.
If you believe in the principle of law it’s irrational not to agree with you lool
Oh and no one should take America at their word alone.
The US Coast Guard cutter Munro actually seized over 20,000lbs of cocaine and arrested the crew of a speedboat this week after disabling it with shots to the engines.
Which shows that the military strikes against unarmed vessels are completely unnecessary and are simply to pander to Trump’s political base.
Ahhh. Remember Rainbow Warrior….and that wasn’t in international waters.
yes an embarrassing cluseterfrack operation for sure.
difference was plan was not to kill people and boat was supposed to be empty. US apparently doesn’t care anymore
RIP to that photographer.
Indeed. If interested is so good and they are tracking the vessels with such certainty of cargo and route then disable / arrest them when they enter US waters.
Well having just seen the penultimate episode of Celebrity Race Across the World I am decidedly unsure about at least some of these hits. I noticed that between Colombia and Panama these exact style of boats are used as ferries and supply boats particularly amongst the hundreds of islands the indigenous people occupy and no doubt common for fishing. I presume similarly for many these are (or were) safe highways and are likely common more widely along large sections of the Caribbean coast. Oh and what’s next down from Colombia oh yes Venezuela. And of course Trump is now threatening Colombia too in recent days. If timing had been different and mad dog Hegseth had targeted a speedboat full of British Celebrities I do wonder how he would have managed to label them as drug runners too, I’m sure he would have claimed the programme to be a cover from a lefty British tv Company for surreptitious activities. Anyway let’s hope there is at least some considerable effort going on to separate actual drug smugglers from ordinary people going about their normal business because with a certain irony mainland roads are hardly numerous in much of those regions and a lot of them are occupied or targeted by very dangerous people of the exact type the US Administration is claiming to want to target… well unless they are from Hondurans anyway who he is happy to pardon for drug smuggling because they were imprisoned under Biden. And that reminds us that trouble is we know from experience political effect and pressure (especially for personal/family profit) are far more important to Hegseth and Trump than the small matter of dividing guilty from innocent, especially when they are mere foreigners of non Caucasian tones.
Did you look at the picture? Which part of “fishing “ stood out to you?
Firstly, we have no proof that the image in the article is representative of the sinking.
Secondly, you can’t identify what those items on the deck in the image are.
Thirdly, we have reports of fishermen going missing from Trinidad whilst operating in this area.
Granted THAT picture might not be from THAT specific incident but the videos are pretty clear. They show and follow a pattern. These guys know what they are doing and know what they are doing more than likely be responsible for destroying a large number of lives, if not deaths. The hat due process for the victims? I don’t say give them carte Blanche but based on what we know Ima OK with it so far.
We know very little though, even House and Senate Representatives had to work hard to get any semblance of information out of the Pentagon, itself of course now closed off to respectable journalists. The reaction has been very mixed to say the least. I. Pretty sure some of those boats are drug smugglers and if they are (despite killing them is illegal and secondary strikes a war crime) I am not particularly concerned about them being targeted, but there is no conclusive evidence more generally that most or all those targeted are indeed drug smugglers and what video I have seen is not conclusive at all in most cases. Maybe your eyes are better than mind but we do tend to see what we want to see at times and the deliberate effort to make sure there is no evidence left behind be it people or the wrecks does make me somewhat suspicious that there is a deliberate effort by the regime to make sure physical evidence can not be recovered that might refute the message.
While I agree with what you are saying, the line of argument that these people are innocent is not going to make much progress with these people because from what we know, short of reading everything MAGA says in reverse, it is quite likely that the vast majority of victims are drug runners.
The issue is that it would be so easy for the USN to intercept these criminals, destroy the drugs and give them a fair trial, as the RN does when the drug runners haven’t scarpered at 45kts. But Hesgeth has put the law into the hands of military commanders and told them to apply it to civilians based on a minute or two’s evidence, and it is no soldier’s prerogative to decide which civilians live and who dies.
Arguments based on ‘please don’t gratuitously kill people’ might not hold much with Americans but they’re the best I’ve got.
When you know an Administration has no qualms at all about abusing and even killing people for the sake of trying to gain internal improved poll numbers it’s difficult not to be cynical about the motives. If they had made an effort to stop, accurately ascertain what the true picture was on the water and based on that take more aggressive action had that proved the propensity of these boats being overwhelmingly drug smuggling I could have more sympathy but that wouldn’t be the prime message that the Administration wants to pass on is it, it wants to play the drug playbook which it has already provenly abused in its threats to Canada and pressure now a Country with a leftist leader (admittedly vile by the way) that just happens to have the World’s largest oil reserves so that it can gain greater access to those reserves so that the glorious leader can claim he is bringing down fuel costs (while making millions himself you can be sure). He leader can no doubt stay if he plays ball just as the ex drug tsar of Honduras is doing for Trump. You can be sure in this game the guilt or otherwise of those being killed is of little importance to Trump or Hegseth. They love Putin et al and are perfectly happy to use their playbook as and when it benefits. Fact is they are desperate because if they can’t change momentum and fast, they will be severely damaged in the midterms and desperation for these people goes only in one direction, ie step it up, esp when prison bars are haunting their dreams no doubt.
So what are they fishing for in a speedboat with 4 outboard motors going 40+knots in the dead of night acrossthe Caribbean??
Ive never been sea fishing myself, are they trying to catch flying fish with nets?
Or are they carrying a few million dollars worth of Colombian marching powder perhaps??
I agree with Trump, the reason the Liberal left say the war on drugs cant be won, is because nobody has ever actually tried to win it.
These drug smuggling scumbags are peddling death and misery to your street too..
I say, ‘ let em have it’ ….
So you are saying these exact same style boats operating among the hundreds of islands of Panama and Columbia, you know because of the lack of roads, the dangers on land and the hundreds of islands are a necessity, are all drug boats? If so I wonder who the drug lord organising Race Across the World was then. Sure there are drug smugglers operating in these regions but has any attempt to determine the true picture been made because this isn’t the south coast of England the indigenous people forced onto these islands by the Spanish survive by trading and ferrying using boats of this nature. Probably best to research the matter before making black and white claims, which I very much doubt was high in Hegseth’s and Trump’s motivations for these actions either.
Nazi’s use to shoot men in the water and now America is doing the same.
Thank you for your service.
So how can the UK possibly remain allied with the Nazis? The UK, if it has any principles, should demand that all American forces withdraw from the UK and the UK must stop all intelligence relationships with the US. The UK can’t possibly remain in a NATO that has a Nazi USA as a member. NATO must be given an ultimatum: It can have the US or the UK as a member, not both. Go ahead, big mouth, we’re all waiting.
Unfortunately there’s many on here that advocate the same treatment of those illegal immigrants coming across the Channel.
The term “Nazi” applies equally to them too.
Japanese too. That’s exactly ironically why such matters are now so firmly classified as a war crime post war. By ignoring that fact for self serving advantage will come back to haunt us all, especially as and when conflicts with Russia and China kick off or indeed any conflict if the fear of serious response and punishment for breaching such conventions goes out the window. All civilians become expendable without limit, something I had hoped was something anathema to Western Democracy if it means anything these days. No moral high ground anymore, or rule of law. Trump is happy with that but ask yourself do we?
America is fast becoming a second russia
Western branch of the Kremlin. Run by a toddler tantrum.
With those 3 huge Engines strapped to the back, That’s some serious Fishing Boat ! 🚤😎
I bet they don’t catch many fish when they are doing 40 knots+
And without any fishing gear aboard…
Yeah, It’s like they’re on drugs or something 😂
I love the numerous bags of “fish” at the front of the high speed fishing boat.
I guess it’s in powered form to make it easier to transport.
The amazing thing with a hit from a 250lb guided bomb is the difficulty in finding anything that can be used for evidence.
Alleged “Bags of Fish” !
They have been described as fishing boats but that’s simplistic, see my posts above where many of those boats do have two. When it is three then I would certainly have doubts about their purpose mind and if it’s proved they are drug smugglers then I certainly don’t have sympathy for them but I have little faith in the US Administration actually caring about proof especially as they are intent upon leaving no viable evidence to be studied. After all actions of this nature are usually backed up by confirmation of the intelligence information upon which you are reacting too. When you don’t then it’s suggestive the motives may be different or you simply don’t want that evidence tested. As if Trump and co would do that eh, we all know after all the claims of Phentynol from Canada is rock solid despite there being no evidence of it at all. Yup if glorious leader says it’s true we all know it must be.
nice to see American due process at work in international waters. /facepalm
what’s next? taking down small airplanes, why not airliners (I am sure there must be some mule with drug packets in their stomach)
useless flexing when most of the drugs into US come from Mexico and Bahamas. Venezuela is hardly a major player in the cocaine business compared to Columbia, Bolivia and Peru, but Venezuela has something these countries don’t -> black gold.
Precisely.
They already took down an Airliner in the 90s
Spot on and US companies used to make a rather lot of profit from it, and US needs to reduce fuel prices coincidence?
It’s over 1000 nautical miles across an open ocean from Venezuela to Florida. Whatever those boats are doing it’s doubtful they’re doing trans – oceanic smuggling. Having twin outboard engines isn’t a crime.
Simultaneously pardoning the drug & arms trafficking ex Honduras president. This is like gunning down people in the stret on suspicion they’re drug dealers. Trump loves to play the hard guy when only faced with the weak.
What really worries me is the new U.S. security document.. I’m not sure but I think this may be a real problem for the Uk moving forward if this is embedded in US thinking beyond this administration.
“We will deny non-Hemispheric competitors the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities, or to own or control strategically vital assets, in our Hemisphere,” this is essentially the Monro doctrine rite large.. if your not a native of the American continent sod off…. This is clearly Aimed at china but also France, UK and Denmark.
It accuses European nations of “subversion of democratic processes” and that its will intervene heavily against what it sees as its interests in some European nations “We will oppose elite-driven, anti-democratic restrictions on core liberties in Europe, the Anglosphere, and the rest of the democratic world, especially among our allies,”
It offers very little future for nato “ enabling Europe to stand on its own feet and operate as a group of aligned sovereign nations, including by taking primary responsibility for its own defence, without being dominated by any adversarial power” it also states that some NATO powers may no longer be consider allies in the future.
It actually accuses Europe of sucking the U.S. into conflicts that are only of inter to Europe and not the U.S. interests.. (which would be a huge joke if it was not profoundly disrespectful to the European war dead and injured from the 2 decade lead US war on terror)
It will seek to support European allies and Russia coexisting in peace..
It clearly sees the EU as a potential rival and accuses the EU and “other transnational bodies” of “civilizational erasure” via migration policies and censorship, resulting in a “loss of national identities and self-confidence.”
It also essentially states the U.S. will moving forward abandon all trans national institutions and agreements as un American and anti it’s interests.. essentially the law of the sea, UN etc…as well as the idea of free trade, which it also considers anti American.
At the same time it will ignore any such movements in its interactions with the rest of the world:
“We seek good relations and peaceful commercial relations with the nations of the world without imposing on them democratic or other social change that differs widely from their traditions and histories,”
It’s hardening it’s line around the china seas saying they are vital to US interests and that it will not allow Chinese domination, but at the same time saying it will not manage this on its own and it will expect western pacific nations to pony up and confront china.
Finally it is clear it has zero interest in the Middle East other than as Middle Eastern nations being a market for its goods and it does not plan to police the western Indian Ocean sea-lanes moving forward.
And the issue it will realigned its forces to control the western hemisphere ( North America and South America) and it will work with any and all regional partners to remove outside powers from the region and ensure U.S. control and access to all resources in the western hemisphere…I’m not sure but this may be a problem for the UK in the future… the US has already lent Argentinian 40billion pounds and sold it F16s..